Page 10 of Taken By the Alien Merrow King

“And Inbhir?”

Pausing on the bottom step, he gave her a feral grin. His heartbeat sped up when she returned it with one of her own, her eyes glinting in the torchlight. “This is where it gets violent,” he said quietly, offering her his hand. “You ready for it?”

“Sounds like he deserved everything that was coming for him,” she answered, intertwining her fingers with his.

Noticing their king had joined them, the crowd quieted. As all eyes turned to them, her hand tightened on his, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she moved closer, her side plastered to his.

His chest puffed out, proud she was showing that backbone of hers, despite her distaste for attention. He faced the crowd with a fierce grin and, projecting his voice so everyone couldhear, said, “For it was here, in this very cove, that the tyrant Inbhir met his well-deserved, bloody end.”

9

ASTRA

She jumped a little when those assembled shouted back, “Met his bloody end!”

Des threw back his shoulders, his powerful voice connecting with everyone assembled. “Full moon above, our brave Merrow went to sea.”

“Three by three by three,” the crowd intoned.

“Hooked the despot; he couldn’t get free.”

“Three by three by three,” chanted the Merrow, clapping their hands in time to the words.

Astra found herself swaying to the cadence of their voices. As the chant picked up the pace, it transformed into a song that made her feel as if she was actually out there on the beach with the brave Merrow of the past fighting for their lives against a terrible despot. It was simultaneously scary and extraordinary, yet enchanting.

“Torched the ships and lit the boughs,” Des sang, his deep voice curling around her. With those words, the boats floating in the cove caught fire with a whoosh. Shifted Merrow leapt over the flames, their gold and green fish tails glittering in the moonlight as they dove back into the sea with a splash.

“Three by three by three,” the singers belted out in response. The repeated words built on each other, power booming across the sand, rattling through Astra’s chest like the deepest bass in her favorite dance club.

“The tyrant died screaming. Never again, we forever vow.”

“Three by three by three.”

On the final ‘three’, fireworks exploded overhead, painting the sky with colorful flowers of chemical reactions and bright spirals trailing across the sky like falling stars. The band waiting patiently in the wings struck up a merry reel, and suddenly the beach and the calm water of the cove were filled with masses of laughing, spinning bodies celebrating their ancestors’ triumph against an evil tyrant.

Des leaned over and asked, “Dance with me, my lovely mate?”

She shivered as his lips grazed the shell of her ear, heat pooling in her belly. He looked at her with such hope in his eyes, what could she say but, “Yes.”

With a whoop, Des pulled her into the maelstrom.

Dancing with Des was magical. She didn’t know the steps to the dances, but he never let her falter, leading her across the sand, a strong arm wrapped around her waist, the other gripping her hand. He looked at her like she was the only person on the planet worth paying attention to, his endlessly green eyes filled with love beyond measure as he twirled her around the sandy dance floor. Within his arms, she felt protected, safe and, for perhaps the first time in her life, truly loved by someone other than blood relatives.

How that was possible, she wasn’t sure. Not the being loved part. She knew she was worthy of love. She’d just been too busy to go looking for it, more focused on survival, every moment worried about making sure her family was safe and had enough to drink and eat.

What was amazing to her was that someone she barely knew — a gorgeous alien and a king, no less — could take one look at her in what she fully admitted was not one of her finest moments, declare her his mate, and pledge eternal devotion to her. Things like that didn’t happen outside of fairy tales, especially not to her.

But she was overthinking things as usual. After all, getting on the good side of the aliens was literally the reason she and the other women were on Sanos. Learning she was the mate of a leader of a large territory, territory that contained liveable landmasses especially, would make the higher-ups ecstatic.

Speaking of, she really should make contact with them, let them know what was going on.

But not tonight. Tonight was for celebrating the Merrow, of her drinking clean water and enjoying fresh air for the first time. It was for falling in love with someone who looked at her like she walked on water.

Which —holy shit— she literally was. She squeaked and gasped in delight as her mate spun her over gently lapping waves, the tips of her boots skimming the surface of the glittering water. “Des,” she said, laughing while she clung to him, her nails digging into the thick fabric of his coat. “Don’t you dare let me go.”

“Oh, I am never letting you go, sweetheart,” he said, smiling down at her, stars in his eyes. “Didn’t you realize that?”

“So, what, you’re going to keep me here? Forever?” Her pulse sped up, butterflies once again making their presence known in her belly. “When did you decide that?” She gave another squeak as he twirled them to where the water met damp sand and set her back on her feet. She found herself strangely disappointed to be back on solid ground.

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